We Try All the New Biscuit Sandwiches at Bang Bang Pie Shop

I've been smitten with the biscuits at Bang Bang Pie Shop since the shop first opened. Sure, the namesake desserts and the house-roasted coffee are fantastic, but there's just something about those biscuits: tall and handsome, with a gloriously browned exterior that gives way to a soft pillowy interior, they are not only some of the best in the city, but Food & Wine even thinks they are some of the best in America. For just $2.50, you can get a one steaming from the oven, ready for you to slather with house-made jelly and butter. But if the biscuits are so great on their own, wouldn't they serve as an incredible foundation for a sandwich?

Without giving anything away, the answer is yes. I mean, how could they not be? But what's most surprising is that Bang Bang didn't take the easy route. Though the chef could have tossed a fried egg in between the biscuit halves and called it a day (and no doubt, that would have been worth eating), each of the three new offerings prove that Bang Bang isn't afraid to take chances.

It's not that they are overly complicated, they are just complex. And the sandwich that best sums up this approach is the bacon biscuit sandwich. The strips of salty and sweet bacon are cut by a layer of bitter and earthy collard greens and an intense Fresno chili hot sauce. To make sure everything doesn't come off the rails, a nicely poached egg is dropped on top. When you can get a bite of all the components, it's one hell of a sandwich.

The ham and biscuit sandwich is slathered with salty pimento cheese, creamy grits, and stunning pepper jelly—a sweet and spicy concoction that works wonders here. Even more than the bacon sandwich, this one proved that Bang Bang knows how to use sweet and spicy to help offset the meaty filling, egg, and biscuit.

Bang Bang used to serve biscuits and gravy in the beginning, and I'm glad to report it's back. But you'll also find the sawmill gravy on the house-made sorghum sausage biscuit sandwich. This is definitely the heaviest sandwich of the bunch, but thanks to a generous helping of sweet grape jelly, it never becomes overwhelming. This is probably my least favorite of the bunch, which doesn't mean a whole lot since all three are so good. But I'd probably only order this if I had a day of serious physical activity planned, like chopping wood or a trip to Ikea.

The only issue is height. As I mentioned above, the biscuits are already tall, and when all the components are lovingly stacked on top, it can make eating one a messy proposition. And while an egg, especially one with a molten yolk, is almost always a good idea, I sometimes wondered if the sandwiches would be better without them. But that's really nitpicking.

What I always admired about Bang Bang was that it only did a few things (pie, biscuits, and coffee) but it did each of them well. This new menu proves that the shop isn't afraid to tackle a new project and keep standards high. That has me truly excited for a planned dinner menu, which should be available soon.